Circuit controlling device for electrical switching apparatus



Jan. 26, 1943- s. D. VIGREN ETAL 2,309,422

, CIRCUIT CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELECTRICAL SWITCHING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 25. 1940 Fig 4.

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Patented Jan. 26, 1943 CIRCUIT CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELEC- TRICAL SWITCHING APPARATUS Sten Daniel Vigren and Rolf Albin Svensson,

Stockholm, Sweden, assignors to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, a corporation of New York Application August 23, 1940, Serial No. 353,848

11 Claims.

The present invention relates to a circuit controlling device for electrical switching apparatus and particularly to crossbar switches provided with a plurality of stationary contact means in the form of metallic bars.

The invention refers to improvements and simplifiaations in the construction of said switches, whereby the manufacturing cost of, for example, crossbar switches can be substantially lowered, due to the fact that fewer parts can be used in each set of contacts than those used heretofore.

A feature of the invention relates to an automatic normal-position equalizing device for movable contact springs, whereby stationary contacts and movable spring contacts are automatically placed at the same distance from each other without any manual adjustment whatsoever.

According to another feature of the invention a new kind of actuating stud for a plurality of movable contact springs can be adapted to be engaged and directly actuated by a finger, instead of by a finger and an auxiliary lifting spring which in its turn was actuated by the armature of an electromagnet as heretofore.

The invention will be better understood in connection with the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly sectional of a part of a set of contact springs in combination with stationary metallic bars and a unit actuating stud according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of movable springs at AA in Fig. 1, showing studs to be directly actuated. by a finger and an armature of a crossbar switch.

Fig. 3 is a partial front view of vertical crossbar and armature shown in Fig. 1 and in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a top view of a part of a crossbar switch showing position of movable contact springs in relation to stationary metallic contact bars and unit operating studs.

In Fig. 1-4 stationary metallic contact bars 5 are provided on one side with electrical insulating strips 2, attached to said metallic bars I, and contacts I8 on .the other side. The insulation can be sprayed on and dried, baked or otherwise made solid in the form of an adhering thin film, each of the movable springs 3 is provided with a transverse bend in the movable portion thereof adjacent to the fastening portion thereof whereby when the springs are in their assembled positions, their contact ends will be normally biased to rest against the insulating strips 2 carried by the contact bars I. An actuating member 4 of electrically insulating composition is provided with teeth 5 for actuating movable contact springs 3. The actuating member can be provided with a collar 6 and a lower part I, movable in a hole in bridge 8, said collar 5 being of larger diameter than the said hole in order to fix vertically the normal position of actuating member 4. The lower part I of actuating member is provided with a cutout 9 to receive finger III, by means of which actuating member can be lifted when the finger II) has been moved. Supposing that crossbar I5 is turned to the left by its operating relay coil H, the operating finger I0 is then also moved in the same direction. The finger tip thus becomes located over hole II of armature I2 in .the cutout 9 of the stud I. If armature 2| of relay coil I3 now is operated the actuating member 4 with its engaged movable contact springs can directly be lifted by means of the finger I0 and the armature I2.

The actuating member can be made in two or more parts to fit different combinations, whereby the lower part 1 with collar 6 can be used separately from the upper part of member 4 in which case member 4 or studs, individual to each spring, rest upon the collar 6 of stud I.

The best results are, however, obtained by using a single actuating member which can either be passed through holes 20 of all the springs of a set (Fig. 4), the different teeth 5 engaging the respective contact springs, or the actuating member can have the shape of a ladder, the rungs replacing the teeth 5, the two long side pieces of said ladder being located on each side of the set of springs. In this latter case no hole is needed in respective contact springs.

The actuating member is preferably provided with spaces between the teeth or rungs greater than the thickness of the contact springs so that the contact springs in non-actuated position, as shown on the drawing, do not rest on the actuating member. In this manner the contact pres--' sure or tension of each spring is independent of .the pressure or tension of the other springs of the set.

The automatic normal-position equalizing de vice for the movable contact springs is vastly superior to known sets of contact springs and particularly such sets in which all contact combinations are make-contacts, composed of stationary contact bars and movable contact springs, because the distance which each movable spring, upon actuation, has to travel from its normal position to its actuated position is exactly alike for all springs in the set. This very desirable feature has been obtained by causing the back contact portion of each movable spring to rest directly upon the insulation of the adjacent stationary contact bar.

Heretofore it has been necessary to leave a free space between each stationary contact bar of a certain level of a crossbar switch and the movable contact springs of the next level. Said free space has previously caused an arduous manual labour to adjust the movable contact spring tips so that the said tips in non-actuated position should be located at about the same distance from its corresponding contact bar. .At the same time it was indispensable that the contact tips should be located at a sufiicient distance from the stationary metallic bar of the previous level.

By means of the new device the following substantial advantages are obtained:

1. No adjustment of contact spring tips is needed after mounting.

2. Exact position of each movable contact spring is automatically obtained.

3. The moving distance of all movable springs inasetisalike.

4. Due to the fact that all springs of a set are actuated the same distance the same contact pressure upon actuation is automatically obtained.

5. Each contact set of springs occupies less space than before.

The operation of the new actuating stud l in, for example, a crossbar switch takes place in the following way. When relay coil ll (Figs. 2-4) is energized in known way, its armature is moved so that the vertical bar I5 is turned and its finger I is moved to the left (Figs. 2-3) until the finger 10 engages the cutout 8 of stud 1. If now coil I3 is operated, its armature is energized and its lever I2 is raised. The finger I0 already located above the hole ll of the armature lever i2 is then engaged by the lever to lift the stud l and actuating member 4 together with all the movable contact springs which are engaged by the teeth or rungs 5 of the said actuating member 4.

This construction is very simple, effective and cheap, because in known constructions the finger does not directly engage and actuate the insulated operating stud, but it has first to engage a special spring on which the operating studs or stud is mounted.

The unit stud and operating member represent a decided simplification over previously known studs which in fact consisted of a plurality of studs mounted one on top of another. The manufacturing cost and the cost of mounting and adjusting all the said studs were very heavy.

By means of the new contact spring-operating multiple stud adapted for direct engagement with the operating finger lo a decided technical improvement in the art of the manufacturing and operation of electrical switching devices has been obtained.

What we claim is:

1. A circuit controlling device comprising a plurality of stationary metallic bars, each thereof being provided with contacts on one side and a layer of insulation on the other side, a plurality of movable contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said metallic bars, each of said contact springs being located between two such bars and each contact spring being so formed as, under the tension of its own resilience in non-actuated position to rest the back of its contact part against the insulated portion of one of said bars, the make-contact of said movable contact spring in said non-actuated position being disposed to make contact upon being operated with the corresponding contact of the other bar, all contacts of said movable contact springs being located at substantially the same distance from the cooperating contacts of the corresponding metallic bars, and actuating means comprising means for engaging and urging the said movable contact springs to make contact with the corresponding contacts of the said stationary metallic bars.

2. A crossbar switch comprising a plurality of stationary metallic contact bars, a plurality of movable contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said bars, an actuating member of insulating material having means engaging with said springs for moving them into engagement with corresponding contacts of said bars, a fixed member, an extension on said actuating member engaging said fixed member to determine the normal position of said actuating member, a stud on one end of said actuating member having a shoulder, a pivoted armature having a hole therein aligned with said stud and through which said stud may freely pass, and an operating finger laterally movable between the shoulder of said stud and the adjacent face of said armature whereby said actuating member is operable to move said springs when said finger is interposed between said shoulder and said armature'and said armature is operated.

3. A crossbar switch comprising a plurality of stationary metallic contact bars, a plurality of movable contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said bars, an actuating member of insulating material having means engaging with said springs for moving them into engagement with corresponding contacts on said bars, and having a stud on one end thereof provided with a shoulder, a fixed bridge having a hole through which said stud freely passes, a collar on said member seating against said bridge to determine the normal position of said member, a pivoted armature having a hole therein aligned with said stud and through which said stud freely passes and an operating finger laterally movable between the shoulder of said stud and the adjacent face of said armature whereby said actuating member is operable to move said springs when said finger is interposed between said shoulder and said armature and said armature is operated.

4. A crossbar switch comprising a plurality of stationary metallic contact bars, a plurality of movable contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said bars, an actuating member of insulating material extending through aligned apertures in said springs and having notches in which portions of said springs are engaged for moving them into engagement with corresponding contacts on said bars, a fixed member, an extension on said actuating member engaging said fixed member to determine the normal position of said actuating member, a stud on one end of said actuating member having a shoulder, a pivoted armature having a hole therein aligned with said stud and through which said stud may freely pass, and an operating finger laterally movable between the shoulder of said stud and the adjacent face of said armature whereby said actuating member is operable to move said springs when said finger is interposed between said shoulder and said armature and said armature is operated.

5. A crossbar switch comprising a plurality of stationary metallic bars, each provided with contacts on one face thereof and with a layer of insulation on the other face thereof, a plurality of movable contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said bars, each of said springs having its contact end located between two adjacent bars and normally tensioned to rest with one of its faces in engagement with the insulation layer of one of said bars, an actuating member of insulating material having means engaging with said springs for moving the contacts thereof into engagement with the contacts of said bars and having a stud on one end thereof provided with a shoulder, a pivoted armature having a cut-out portion therein conforming to the cross sectional shape of said stud aligned therewith and through which said stud may freely pass, and an operating finger laterally movable between the shoulder of said stud and the adjacent face of said armature whereby said actuating member is operable to move said spring when said finger is interposed between said shoulder and said armature and said armature is operated.

6. A crossbar switch comprising a plurality of stationary metallic bars, each provided with contacts on one face thereof and with a layer of insulation on the other face thereof, a plurality of movable contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said bars, each of said springs having its contact end located between two adjacent bars, an actuating member of insulating material having notches in which said springs are engaged, said notches being of greater width than the thickness of said springs whereby in the normal position of said member said springs are free to move by their normal tension into engagement with the insulation layers of said bars, a stud on one end of said member provided with a shoulder, a pivoted armature having a cut-out portion therein aligned with said stud and through which said stud may freely pass, and an operating finger laterally movable between the shoulder of said stud and the adjacent face of said armature whereby said actuating member is operable to move said springs into contacting engagement with said bars when said finger is interposed between said shoulder and said armature and said armature is operated.

'7. A crossbar switch comprisin a plurality of stationary metallic bars, each provided with contacts on one face thereof and with a layer of insulation on the other face thereof, a plurality of sets of contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said bars, each of said springs having its contact end located between two adjacent bars and normally tensioned to rest with one of its faces in engagement with the insulation layer of one of said bars, an actuating member of insulating material for each of said sets of springs having means engaging with the sprin s of such set and having a stud on one end thereof provided with a shoulder, a pivoted armature having cut-out portions conforming to the cross sectional shape of said studs aligned therewith and. through which said studs may freely pass, and operating fingers laterally movable between the shoulders of said studs and the ad- .iacent face of said armature whereby said actuating members may be selectively operable to move the springs of the sets associated therewith when a finger is interposed between the shoulder of a stud and said armature and said armature is operated.

8. A crossbar switch comprising a plurality of stationary metallic contact bars, a plurality of movable contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said bars, each of said springs havin a slot extending axially therein, an actuating member of insulating material extending through the slots of said springs and having notches in one edge thereof in which the portions of the springs beyond one end of their slots are engaged whereby said springs may be moved into engagement with corresponding contacts of said bars, a stud on one end of said member provided with a shoulder, a pivoted armature having a hole therein aligned with said stud and through which said stud may freely pass, and an operating finger laterally movable between the shoulder of said stud and the adjacent face of said armature whereby said actuating member is operable to move said springs when said finger is interposed between said shoulder and said armature and said armature is operated.

9. A crossbar switch comprising a plurality of stationary metallic contact bars, a plurality of sets of contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said bars, each of said springs having a slot extending axially therein, a member of insulating material for each of said sets of springs extending through the slots thereof and having notches in one edge thereof in which the portions of the springs beyond one end of their slots are engaged whereby the springs of each set may be moved into engagement with corresponding contacts of said bars, a stud on one end of each of said members provided with a shoulder, a pivoted armature having holes therein aligned with said studs and through which said studs freely pass, and operating fingers laterally movable between the shoulders of said studs and the adjacent face of said armatures whereby said actuating members may be selectively operable to move the springs of the sets associated therewith when a finger is interposed between the shoulder of a stud and said armature and said armature is operated.

10. A crossbar switch comprising a plurality of stationary metallic contact bars, a plurality of movable contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said bars, an actuating member of insulating material having means engagin with said springs for moving them into engagement with corresponding contacts of said bars and having a stud on one end thereof provided with a shoulder, a pivoted armature having a cut-out portion therein conforming to the cross sectional shape of said stud aligned therewith and through which said stud may freely pass, and an operating finger laterally movable between the shoulder of said stud and the adjacent face of said armature, whereby said actuating member is operable to move said springs when said finger is interposed between said shoulder and said armature and said armature is operated.

11. A crossbar switch comprising a plurality of stationary metallic contact bars, a plurality of movable contact springs to cooperate with the contacts of said bars and extending at right angles to said bars, an actuating member of insulating material having means engaging with said springs for moving them into engagement with corresponding contacts of said bars and having a stud on one end thereof provided with a shoulder, a pivoted armature having a hole therein aligned with said stud and through which said stud may freely pass, and an operating finger laterally movable between the shoulder of said stud and the adjacent face of said armature whereby said actuating member is operable to move said springs when said finger is interposed between said shoulder and said armature and said armature is operated.

STEN DANIEL VIGREN. ROLF ALBIN SVENSSON. 

